Fairyhouse joins Stratford in calling off Monday card due to heavy rain

Two meetings on Monday have been lost to the wet weather after Fairyhouse joined Stratford in abandoning following a morning inspection.

The ground at Fairyhouse was described as raceable on Sunday evening but a further 15mm of rain forced officials to scrap the fixture at the 7.30am inspection.

The County Meath track is scheduled to race on Tuesday and another inspection has been called for 7.30am on raceday morning.

Following the two abandonments, the races at Kempton will go off five minutes later than advertised, with the action now starting at 12.25.

Stratford's meeting was cancelled on Sunday after heavy overnight rain left the course waterlogged.

The Warwickshire track had endured a wet week before a further 19mm of rain on Saturday night was enough to cause waterlogging in the low-lying areas in the home straight and the viaduct bend.

Monday's cards for Kempton and Carlisle

Stratford's clerk of the course Robert Bellamy said on Sunday: "It was perfectly raceable on Friday with the ground description soft, heavy in places. The forecast for Saturday said we were due 8mm but we had 19mm throughout the whole day and evening, which has left us with quite a lot of surface water on the track.

"The River Avon doesn't peak until midday so any drainage that might help the situation is all backed up due to the river levels. There is further rain for this evening too, but we're already waterlogged."

The meeting, which was set to be the track's last in 2019, featured two Class 3 contests. Racegoers who bought tickets are entitled to a full refund and should contact the racecourse office.

"It's heartbreaking for everyone here and sad to lose our last meeting of the year, but we just couldn't cope with the 19mm of rain," added Bellamy.

Lingfield is set to stage its first jumps meeting of the season on Tuesday and is confident racing will go ahead, although the going is currently heavy with more rain expected.

Lingfield: scheduled to stage its first jumps meeting of the season on TuesdayCredit: Edward Whitaker

There was 5mm of rain at the track on Saturday, and another wet day is forecast for Monday, but conditions are currently raceable for the scheduled six-race card.

Lingfield's clerk of the course George Hill said: "We're due a bit of rain tomorrow, about 4mm to 7mm, but at the moment we are raceable so we're okay. As long as we don't get a massive amount of rain – if we get what's forecast – then we should be okay."

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